Kevin Klee of Nature's Finest Taxidermy in Minden City was on hand to explain proper field care of trophies last Saturday during the annual Grindstone-Port Hope Sportsmen's Club Kids Day. (Tom Lounsbury/Hearst Michigan) less

Kevin Klee of Nature's Finest Taxidermy in Minden City was on hand to explain proper field care of trophies last Saturday during the annual Grindstone-Port Hope Sportsmen's Club Kids Day. (Tom ... more

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Above, Michigan DNR Conservation Officer Jason Smith assists Easton Terwilliger, 7, with a laser firearm simulator last Saturday during the annual Grindstone-Port Hope Sportsmen's Club Kids Day. At right, Ariana Vallecoccia, 14, of Fraser, enjoys releasing arrows on the Center Shot archery range last Saturday. The event drew more than 100 kids from around the state. (Tom Lounsbury/Hearst Michigan) less

Kids line up to pet a hedgehog last Saturday during the annual Grindstone-Port Hope Sportsmen's Club Kids Day. (Tom Lounsbury/Hearst Michigan)

Kids line up to pet a hedgehog last Saturday during the annual Grindstone-Port Hope Sportsmen's Club Kids Day. (Tom Lounsbury/Hearst Michigan)

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Scott Helewski, 12, of Ubly, shows his target after shooting a tight group of pellets that could be covered with a dime, while using a air rifle at the NRA Shooting Trailer last Saturday during the annual Grindstone-Port Hope Sportsmen's Club Kids Day. (Tom Lounsbury/Hearst Michigan) less

Scott Helewski, 12, of Ubly, shows his target after shooting a tight group of pellets that could be covered with a dime, while using a air rifle at the NRA Shooting Trailer last Saturday during the annual ... more

At one time, Port Hope and Grindstone City each had their own sportsmen's clubs, but being good neighbors, they merged to become the 117-acre Grindstone-Port Hope Sportsmen's Club in 1957.

A major concern for the future of many outdoor pastimes is the continual influence of technology, such as computer games, iPads, cell phones and other related avenues which are readily available to our young people today.

Often lost in this picture is a genuine taste of the real world, which includes the great outdoors and all it has to offer. With this in mind, the Grindstone-Port Hope Sportsmen's Club believed it was necessary to offer a free education day for youths and their mentors.

The club held its first such youth day last summer with the hopes of attracting at least 40 or 50 kids, and ended up with 107. So the club set out this summer in the hopes of attracting and accommodating possibly 150 kids for the youth day last Saturday, and they came close, with over 130 kids in attendance, plus the adult mentors who brought them.

Heading up this event were club member Bob Hurren of Bad Axe and his 35 helpers, including 94-year-old Erwin Schave of Port Hope, who is the only surviving charter member of the club. Schave was right in there lending a hand wherever it was needed, something he has always done for the club.

I decided to stop by, spend the day at the six-hour youth day and check it all out, and I was very impressed.

One of the events was a Hunter Safety Field Day for both kids and adults who had previously completed the online course and needed the field day to get their hunter safety certificates. Close to a couple dozen attendees took advantage of this offering.

Funding for this free event -- which included lunch, drinks and snacks, thanks to the efforts of Dawn and Art Rienas of Bad Axe -- was provided by Whitetails Unlimited (WU), a group I have long supported.

When you attend a WU banquet, the funding it creates is used for events and programs such as this to promote the outdoors (in this case, the funding came from the Romeo-Washington Chapter of WU).

Others were there, too, to lend a hand. Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA) provided the funding for billboards which advertised the youth day. Pheasants Forever (PF) was there with its shooting trailer (provided with funds created by local PF banquets), where kids have the opportunity to fire away at targets with Daisy Red Ryder BB guns.

Also on hand was an NRA shooting trailer (provided with funds created by the Friends of the NRA Banquets), which offers target shooting with air (pellet) rifles. I watched 12-year-old Scott Helewski of Ubly shoot a group of pellets so tight in the bulls-eye that NRA Senior Field Representative Al Herman (who was the trailer's range master) could easily cover it with a dime.

Another attraction was the MDNR Laser Simulator Trailer, where kids got a chance to shoot at game animals under identical circumstances as can be experienced in the field. A number of MDNR Conservation Officers were also present to interact with the public and answer questions.

The Countryside Free Methodist Church of Sandusky was there with the "Center Shot" archery program and archery range, which provided bows and arrows and offered instruction on how to properly send an arrow to the target. I watched a whole bunch of kids (and a number of adults) thoroughly enjoy slinging arrows throughout the day.

Kevin Klee, of Nature's Finest Taxidermy in Minden City, was there with a great display and ready to discuss how to properly care for game in the field if you intend to keep it for a trophy. I also talked to Alex Albright and Aaron Shaughnessy of the Black River Long Beards Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF), who traveled from Port Huron to talk to kids about turkey hunting, which included calling techniques, gear and the use of decoys.

Across the walkway, I met Brian Roggenbuck of Harbor Beach, who has taken a step back in time by making primitive bows and arrows, as well as chipping arrowheads and knives out of materials such as flint (and even a knife he chipped out of glass).

Roggenbuck had pieces of wood, such as Osage-orange, in which he explained the entire process, including allowing the wood to properly air-dry and carving it into a beautiful bow. He even uses his primitive bows and arrows to successfully hunt local whitetails.

Roggenbuck also had an atlatl, the forerunner of the bow and arrow, which he had created in very accurate detail, including the removable foreshaft which holds the hunting head.

A throwing spear, the atlatl system uses a special throwing stick (in Roggenbuck's case, a deer antler is used) attached at the end of the spear shaft which creates a pivoting action that increases range and energy for hunting, and remains in the hand during the cast. The atlatl was an important tool which took prehistoric humans one more step up the food chain.

Also taking a step back into time to discuss with kids the way it once was, was Ted Jayson of Port Hope, who goes by his buckskinner handle of "Path Finder."

Clad in moccasins, floppy hat, buckskin leggings and a linen hunting shirt, Path Finder had a nice and authentic selection of flintlock trade guns and rifles as well as other historically correct paraphernalia upon which hunters of the American wilderness depended for survival during the 1700s, and he had built some of the guns himself.

Being a muzzleloader fan and using them myself for hunting for almost 50 years, I really enjoyed talking to and comparing notes with Path Finder (he and I share a passion for small-caliber, muzzleloading squirrel rifles, which add a whole different flavor to bagging bushytails).

I really appreciated watching kids enjoy the live animal presentation put on by the Whispering Pines Animal Kingdom of Lexington, especially when the kids lined up to pet the prickly but harmless back of a little hedgehog. A friendly, large tortoise also wandered nearby. Many of the animals on display were actually rescue animals.

During my walk around the amazing exhibits and ongoing activities, I met 17-year-old Cody Brown of Port Hope and his unique display of antique duck decoys that had been hand-carved by Thumb duck hunters of a bygone era, and he could name who had carved what and when they had carved it, too.

Brown had numerous old photos of local duck hunters (the Thumb is still well-known for its outstanding waterfowl hunting opportunities) as well as a collection of old duck calls, which he showed me still worked.

Brown is really connected to the history of Thumb waterfowl hunting and the Port Hope area, which had its share of old-time duck hunters. He invited me to join him for duck hunting this fall and, well, folks, I'm really looking forward to it. I've been around awhile, but I do believe this young man is going to teach me a whole lot more about duck hunting.

Near the end of the day, everyone gathered in and around the pavilion since there were drawings and prizes to give away (everybody got a hat as well).

What I saw last Saturday was a whole bunch of kids, as well as accompanying adults, having a great day in the outdoors.

I would like to commend the Grindstone-Port Hope Sportsmen's Club for keeping the torch of outdoor enjoyment burning and passing it on to a new generation.